DeAndre Alexander scored five points in the Indians' loss to Texas-Arlington in Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Saturday.

There was a time when a visit from Texas-Arlington was almost a sure win for Louisiana-Monroe.

But in a season gone awry like ULM's has, even the old automatic victories disappear.

The Mavericks, who had lost 28 of their 30 games in Monroe before Saturday night, reversed the trend with a 63-51 victory at Fant-Ewing Coliseum before an announced crowd of 1,578.

"Victories have been few and far between in this coliseum," said UTA coach Eddie McCarter, whose team ended a three-game conference losing streak. "We're happy to get one anywhere we can. I know they've been struggling this year. So were we coming in with a young team. We're just happy to get out of here with a win."

ULM (7-16, 1-11) lost its fourth in a row and dropped its 12th game in 13 tries. UTA improved to 12-11, 6-6 while winning in Monroe for the first time since the 2002-03 season. UTA's other win at ULM came in the 1984-85 season.

"They've dominated us," McCarter said. "The whole series is like 46 to 11. We're happy. Anytime we can play with Monroe, we're happy."

RoShon Jacobs led the Indians 17 points to tie a career high. Jacobs made his fifth start while leading or co-leading the team in points for the fourth time.

"We've got to learn how to put teams away," Jacobs said. "When we're on top, we've got to stay on top. We have lapses for two or three minutes and can't really get back in the game."

The Indians shot 33 percent from the field (20-of-60) and 35 percent from the free-throw line (7-of-20). UTA outscored ULM 34-22 in the paint.

"They just controlled the paint the whole time," ULM coach Mike Vining said. "We got some shots but we couldn't get them to go. I guess their big guys had something to do with that defensively."

The Indians, who have seen several SLC games slip away in the waning minutes, let another possible win escape late against UTA.

ULM pulled within four points at 53-49 with 3:27 to go. But UTA scored the next 10 points to close out with a 10-2 run and secure its win.

The Mavericks shot 51 percent from the floor but got only 13 points from Steven Thomas, who ranks second in the SLC with a 19 ppg scoring average. Thomas had 31 points in an 80-76 overtime win over ULM in Arlington on Jan. 22.

Larry Posey led UTA with 15 points off the bench. UTA's bench outscored ULM's 36-12 as McCarter pulled his starters — including Thomas — for stretches of the game to perk up his team.

"We didn't have very much effort," McCarter said. "I think it really helped. We brought the bench in and were able to stay even with them. That sent a message to Thomas and the rest of the guys."